Former cop: This is 'where police departments fail the most'

Anthony Hill Twitter In the span of just a few minutes on the afternoon of March 9, a man behaving erratically at an apartment complex near Atlanta was shot dead by police. It was the third known instance in just five days of a white police officer shooting an unarmed black man.

The death of the victim, Anthony Hill, who likely suffered from mental illness, shocked neighbors and left many wondering why police didn't pursue other, less final tactics, such as using a Taser.

"He probably didn't feel like he had time," law enforcement consultant Chuck Drago told Business Insider.

President of Crisis Intervention Team International, a program that offers training programs to police, Michael Woody, was less understanding. "Wow," he told BI. "I don't understand that one at all."

Regardless of the officer's actions, many police departments struggle to handle situations concerning the mentally ill. "That's where police departments fail the most," said Drago, a former police chief in Florida with over 30 years of experience in law enforcement and government.

Anthony Hill's story

Hill, a 27-year-old Air Force veteran, had alluded to suffering from bipolar disorder on social media, and on that fateful Monday, he started wandering around his apartment complex completely naked.

Hill was "acting deranged, knocking on doors, and crawling around on the ground naked," county police chief Cedric Alexander said. Other witnesses revealed Hill repeatedly swung and jumped from his second-story balcony.

Video taken that day shows Hill's behavior. The relevant footage begins around 33 seconds.